My grandmother, Ruth Campbell Smith (1892 - 1972) kept a diary for many years. I am posting her entries from 1925 - 1927 in this blog. Her family included sons Dale (1916 - 2004), Dick (1918 - 1971), Albert (1920 - 1979), and Ned (1923 - 1976), and later daughters Marjorie (1925 - 2010) and Eleanor (1929 - 2011). Her husband was Gilbert (1889 - 1937) and they lived in Indianapolis. I hope you enjoy this glimpse of what it was like to be a housewife and mother in the 1920's.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Saturday, July 10, 1926

Saturday, July 10, 1926Cool

(Must have been a busy day if all Grandma put in her diary was "cool" for the type of weather. Aunt Marjorie sent me some more info on what they did for 4th of July fireworks. "Eleanor and I usually stood on the front porch and tossed lady fingers to the ground (about one inch long). The boys used larger firecrackers. I only remember one time Dale shot a roman candle from the porch, stretching his arm out over the yard. Apparently he thought it wasn't a good idea. The rest of the family stayed on the porch while Dale shot roman candles, fountains, on the walk close to the street. I sort of remember Mother making Ned and me wait until 8:00 AM to start shooting off firecrackers. Mother also wouldn't let us run with our sparklers.The only mishap we ever had was when Mary Wells dropped her punk (what they lit fireworks off of) in a box of Ned's firecrackers on the front porch. Firecrackers, fountains, roman candles, etc. were shooting all over the porch. All the kids in the neighborhood jumped off the porch rails to the ground except me. I remember crouching against the wall, terrified, when Dick pushed out the window screen and pulled me into the house. I was probably 3 or 4."Marjorie also noted that Dick died on July 4th when he was 54 years old and that we had severe storms that day.

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